Six – Seven
I know the slang expression 6 – 7 is expired. I know that by the time between when this is posted and it is read all of what I might say will be out of date since that is how quickly fads and slang come and go!
It is weird because I am 67 and I am so lit, cool, fire, legit, dope, swell, groovy, bees knees cats pajamas, rad, bitchen, savage, neato burito, sigma, et. al. There are so many phrases I have heard and used in the last 67 years because language is so fluid. And there are many other things in addition to “jargon” that have changed during my lifetime. But it doesn’t feel like a lifetime. It doesn’t even feel like the number of years that it has been!
It feels like time is traveling fast because my brain measures duration by all the new memories it creates and all the routines get compressed. In 1967 I was 8. The fashion fads included mini skirts and bikinis. Toys I had included thingmakers, little kiddles, and spirograph. The Flying Nun and Family Affair were 2 of my favorite TV shows. Slang words I heard often – bread, the Fuzz, and right on. We wore threads, lived in a pad and life was far out, out of sight, and groovy. Pirates of the Caribbean opened in Disneyland! Can you dig it?
Life is full of fads and slang. That is nothing new. By definition they are short lived and enthusiasm for them is brief. I wonder what the fads were during Bible times. I wonder how many followed Jesus and then moved on to the next popular thing as though He was a passing fancy. I wonder how many times I have treated the deep truths of God’s word as a fad or followed the latest popular trend as though it was necessary to make God more relevant instead of showing how relevant He already is. God is always in style. He never changes and thankfully he stands outside of cultural movements and the temporality of human culture! I am glad that in the brevity of this life He is the one thing that has anchored me as everything else has come and gone.
Right now my age is above the speed limit and I am approaching what Moses called a whole life! And yet, there are so many things that are just beginning including becoming a grandma! I know I am in a liminal space as I am newly retired and a new grandma. I am in between and at the threshold as my former life is fading and my new identity is not yet formed. I am no longer defined by my career and daily work routine and I am still adjusting to who I am outside of it. It feels unsettling to be in the hallway after one door closes; I have been here before and yet each time feels different as I navigate and adjust to new transitions. And I know this is a passing phase, even a sort of fad, as I move into a new identity I have never worn before. I am not who I was and I am not who I will become. I think I am finally realizing that this is the reality of all of life this side of heaven; everything is a liminal space. And for this reason it is essential to be anchored to the One who is never unmoored.
The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom Ps. 90:10-12
Today I have experienced life with:
- 67 years
- 3 siblings + 6 siblings in law
- 30+ years marriage
- 16 years since Jim went to heaven
- 5 states lived in (not counting the state of confusion, etc)
- 2 kids plus 2 more
- 1 grandchild
- 100s of students who have taught me much
- 100s of friends around the globe
- 1000s cups of tea, scones, and scoops of ice cream
- and so much more than I could ask or think
- 1 faithful God